Constant Vigilance
by amortentiaaa
Summary: COMPLETE! Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody decides to slack off on the constant vigilance just a teensy bit before Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. He's actually going to try to live a life. Not much romance… just pathetic attempts at it with tips from Tonks.
1. Nymphadora

_**Constant Vigilance**_

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody decides to slack off on the constant vigilance just a teensy bit before Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts. He's actually going to try to live a life (!) Not much romance... just pathetic attempts at it with tips from Nymphadora.

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, this probably wouldn't be posted on this site. If I owned Harry Potter, this probably wouldn't be labeled as fanfiction. If I owned Harry Potter... I probably would have a life.**

* * *

**Nymphadora**

Alastor Moody was getting tired of his catch phrase. He could feel that his fellow Aurors were, too, especially the ones he had been working with for thirty-some years. He could hear them mocking him behind his back. Of course, most of the wizards in the world revered him for his constant vigilance.

That was why he still had his head on—even if he had lost an eye and a leg and many portions of his skin that had later resolved in severe scarring—especially since he had made so many enemies by filling up Azkaban.

Alastor had decided that he would finally slack off on the constant vigilance a bit—he would always be careful, but no need to be so paranoid… right? After all, there weren't many Death Eaters around anymore, and the few that were were too scared go back to their Dark Lord (cough, Igor Karkaroff, cough).

The other Aurors had always been allowed to live their normal lives. Why couldn't he? That youngster, Nymphadora Tonks, had answered that question within one week of knowing Alastor.

"Because you're too paranoid that you're going to lose a buttock with that eye and leg… sir."

Or maybe she hadn't said exactly that. After all, only Alastor knew one of his Aurors had lost a buttock maybe ten years ago. Bad images.

Alastor rather liked Nymphadora. She was a funny sort of girl, even though she was way too clumsy to ever even attempt to be an Auror. He was surprised Nymphadora had even passed her Concealment and Disguise exam since she was expected to trip and shriek all over the place, but she had passed with flying colors. Later he learned she was a Metamorphmagus. That would definitely explain it… though she still had had difficulty with her Stealth and Tracking exam because her Metamorphmagus powers would not have helped there.

He knew he would miss her most when he retired from his Auror life. He was going to teach at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a few months.

One day, totally out of the blue, she had asked, "Hey Mad-Eye, have you ever had romance troubles?"

Alastor Moody could tell you that he was quite appalled at this point. No one had ever asked him any personal questions. No one had ever even tried prying into his personal life.

Or maybe that was because they knew he didn't have one. He would have to poll his co-workers on that one.

He had answered, "Constant vigilance, girl! No time for love!"

He could still remember the look on her face. Her eyes had grown wide, not just wide like most people's would, but her Metamorphmagus powers had helped her convey the fact that she was surprised across. Her mouth formed into a huge O. Alastor could not help but think of a huge Cheerio, for he had yet to eat that day—he did not, in fact, have that many meals since he had to make all of his own.

He couldn't help but wonder if the steak he grilled yesterday had mad cow disease...

"Slack off on the constant vigilance, Alastor," he muttered to himself.

Nymphadora appeared out of nowhere. "First sign of madness, talking to yourself, Mad-Eye."

"Oh shove it, _Nymphadora_."

"Oh no you didn't!" she gasped.

"Er… constant vigilance!" Alastor replied as he popped a mint into his mouth. He didn't really know what to say to that teenage phrase.

Nymphadora gasped again, slightly too audible this time for the whole Atrium had turned to look at them two. "IMPERSONATOR!" she declared. "MAD-EYE WOULD _NEVER_ EAT SOMETHING HE DIDN'T MAKE OR CHECK! AH! DEATH EATER ON THE LOOSE!"

Half the people in the Atrium ran in circles, throwing papers in the air and hustling out the doors. Alastor could hear a few cracks from Apparition.

The other half just looked at the Auror trainee suspiciously and continued their conversations.

"So, _Mad-Eye_, as you call yourself, what jail cell number did Sirius Black escape from?" Nymphadora questioned uneasily in an undertone.

"Three hundred and fifty-four. I'm sorry to say cells one through two hundred and sixteen were all filled by me."

"And your barking mad constant vigilance…" she mumbled.

"Actually," Alastor said matter-of-factly, "did you know that I was going to get myself a social life? a personal life? a _love_ life?"

Nymphadora gasped loudly. Alastor glared at her, so she managed a quick, quiet gasp and pretended to faint.

Alastor exclaimed, "Oh no, must be poison! I knew I shouldn't have used you as my food tester!"

"Ha… ha… ha!" Nymphadora managed while nearly rolling on the floor, laughing.

"Wha?" Alastor looked thoroughly confused. "I thought you were a goner…"

She choked, "Wow, you're funny, Mad-Eye!"

Somebody Apparated into the Atrium close behind Alastor. He immediately jumped on reflexes and brought around his wand to face…

"Hey Remus!" Nymphadora shouted gleefully. "I was wondering when you'd be coming!"

"Tonks!" the man shushed her. "No one wants a werewolf here… especially that Lucius Malfoy…" He ended the sentence with a shudder.

"Ooh, sorry, Remus," Nymphadora whispered, "forgot for a moment there."

Alastor proclaimed, "Well, I'll be on my way now…" He nodded curtly and made his way to the elevator.

"Later, Mad-Eye, sir!"

"Wait, Mad-Eye, I—"

Alastor heard Nymphadora shush Remus and say, "Cut him some slack. Did you hear? He's starting a love life! Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody! A love life!" And then she doubled up with laughter. He turned around to glare at her, but he only saw Remus Lupin chuckling along with her. He seemed to not believe her as he was saying, "You're—ha—joking!"

Well, Alastor would just have to show them wouldn't he?

He turned his back on them… smack into a surprised-looking young lady. "Sorry, ma'am, no harm meant, ma'am," he mumbled apologetically. The pretty young woman looked at him nervously and hurried along, glancing at the floor. Out of the back of his head, he could see Nymphadora wheezing, bent over her stomach. Remus seemed to have been too busy laughing before to watch Alastor's little tragedy.

Show them he must…

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**A/N: This was a sort of random idea, but I really felt like Mad-Eye needed another story since there aren't many out there. People even tend to forget that he died during the seventh book. That's just sad. Sorry this was kinda boring, but much more exciting stuff coming very soon! Please review.**


	2. The Singles Club

_**Constant Vigilance**_

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody decides to slack off on the constant vigilance just a teensy bit before Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts. He's actually going to try to live a life (!) Not much romance... just pathetic attempts at it with tips from Nymphadora.

**Ch 1 Summary: Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody gets tired of his "Constant vigilance!" catch phrase. Nymphadora Tonks tries to pry into his romance life, or lack thereof. Knowing Tonks, chaos ensues, consisting of her accusing Alastor of being an impersonator, Alastor voluntarily promising himself a personal life, and her almost giving the presence of a favorite werewolf away in the Ministry...**

**Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. (read: I don't own Harry Potter... bitch. xP)**

* * *

**The Singles Club**

A few days later, Alastor was tidying himself up for a Singles Club party tonight. Nymphadora had told him he was really getting desperate for this love life, but what did she know? Her cutesy-ness and flirting had gotten her… well, quite a few boys, Alastor had to admit, even if many were driven away by her clumsiness.

This was an important Singles Club party. A Singles Over-Forty Club party, as a matter of fact. He might as well attend a few more of these since he just retired two days ago… even though Alastor seemed to look at least seventy with his wrinkled, scarred face. Hopefully the women there would take that to be a sign of his bravery.

He winked flirtatiously at himself in the mirror. He was a left eye winker, but he had lost his left eye, obviously. He had been practicing winking with his right eye when he wondered how those pretty boys could manage that difficult task without looking disgusting. At least he had other men there to learn from.

At long last, he pulled his obsidian cloak over his charming—or so he thought—mahogany robes. He looked himself over in the mirror and smirked his you-foolish-Death-Eater-thought-you-would-escape-the-famous-Mad-Eye-didn't-you? grin.

And with that, he Apparated to the given address.

-:-

After approximately two hours of wandering around and introducing himself amidst plain recognition ("Wow, is that Auror Mad-Eye Moody?!" "Er, Ex-Auror now…" "Excuse me while I go introduce myself to him!" giggle, giggle, giggle), Alastor finally found a nice woman. She was a medium-height brunette with an average body. She seemed to be around forty-four years old and had not been gasping and spilling drinks all over Alastor like some of the others had. In fact, she seemed pretty indifferent, but he practiced conversing with her.

He figured out her name was Mary and she liked the color pink… well, Alastor could pretty much tell from her outfit, makeup, and nails. The most interesting thing about her would probably be the fact that she worked in the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic.

Right. How boring.

Alastor chatted with her for maybe fifteen minutes and had not learned a single thing from it when a slightly tall man with boring brown hair in average gray robes came over to the pair of them. A lean blonde woman who looked to be one of those gossip queens from secondary school except thirty years older quickly followed him. She kept touching the boring-looking man flirtatiously, but the man obviously thought she was too clingy for her own good as he started conversing with the brunette woman.

In the end, Alastor learned that the boring-looking man also had a boring personality to match. And that the indifferent brunette he had been talking to earlier had liked boring people. They had left Alastor and the blonde after a short conversation.

So now Alastor was stuck with the blonde named Brenna. He would have just Apparated back to his home if he had not made Nymphadora a deal that he would stay at the party for the entire night.

Actually, it had been more of an Unbreakable Vow than just a deal. It wasn't really _that_ important to Alastor, but he had done it just to show Nymphadora how dedicated he was to socializing…

Not.

Damn that Nymphadora.

The blonde immediately began batting her eyelashes while asking questions endlessly. Alastor tried so very hard to make conversation with her, but after about a long five minutes, he left her when she turned around to check out some passing man. A sixty-year-old man… who wasn't a courageous Auror like himself. Desperate, much?

Oh well. Alastor went to grab another firewhiskey—just kidding, he had brought some that he had checked himself, constant vigilance, man!—and came upon a very startled Amelia Bones. Yes, Amelia Bones from the Ministry.

They both talked about work for a while. Well, more like Alastor asked Amelia questions about her department since Alastor had just retired and could not talk about his secret Auror work anyways.

Amelia left after a bit since she was apparently helping one of her close friends throw the party.

So maybe she wasn't single. Hm. Who would've known?

Alastor then stumbled upon a pleasant, intriguing redhead with curves in all the right places. Much better than that gossipy lean blonde or that utterly boring brunette. Not that Alastor was biased towards any hair color. In fact, he was a dirty blonde himself… before he had got caught up with his constant vigilance. Now he had grey hair, rather pretty if he does say so himself.

The redhead seemed rather fascinated with Auror work, though Alastor could not reveal any details regarding it. Alastor soon learned that she, Lydia Newton, worked at an apothecary in Diagon Alley. She seemed to be very knowledgeable since she dealt with so many potions, though she also mastered Transfiguration and seemed to like Defence Against the Dark Arts, at any rate. Or maybe that was just to impress Alastor.

They talked for quite a while about anything but politics since that was a pretty touchy subject, particularly when Alastor worked for the Ministry. They talked about school; Lydia had been sorted into Hufflepuff at Hogwarts before attending Beauxbatons as an exchange student for several years. Alastor thought she was definitely nice enough to be in Hufflepuff.

When the clock struck eleven forty-five, some members at the party had started saying their goodbyes and Apparating back to their respective homes. The circles dispersed and soon, not many people were left. Alastor and Lydia arranged a date in a rather subtle way and left themselves, though Alastor made sure it was past midnight for him to return so the Unbreakable Vow wouldn't turn on him.

* * *

**A/N: Tehe, quite OOC, I know. But that's what made writing this so fun. (:**


	3. Alastor's Date

_**Constant Vigilance**_

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody decides to slack off on the constant vigilance just a teensy bit before Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts. He's actually going to try to live a life (!) Not much romance... just pathetic attempts at it with tips from Nymphadora.

**Ch 2 Summary: Alastor goes to a Singles Club party and gets noticed by quite a few female admirers. He strikes up conversations with the boring and pink-loving brunette Mary, the lean and blonde gossip Brenna, even Amelia Bones, and ends up arranging a date with the attractive redhead Lydia...  
**

**Disclaimer: If you'****re reading HP fanfiction, hopefully you're knowledgeable enough to know that JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter... not me. Sheesh, y'all.**

* * *

**Alastor's Date**

"MAD-EYE! YOU'RE AMAZING, YOU KNOW THAT?" Nymphadora cried when she heard about Alastor's success from none other than Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody himself.

Alastor grinned and proceeded to talk about other issues… such as the Ministry.

Nymphadora gave him a few tips here and there regarding Alastor's first date. Actually, he had had one date at Hogwarts during his seventh year, but that was after NEWTs so there wasn't much time for anything more.

Okay, so what if the date had been with Amelia Bones?

-:-

On Saturday evening, Alastor was waiting at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Thankfully, Lydia did not seem to be the type to go to Madam Puddifoot's—that was more of Mary's choice since she had been adorned in all pink to contrast with her boring self at the party. Lydia had actually frowned upon the mention of Madam Puddifoot's, saying that it was too cheesy to be romantic.

Alastor could not agree more himself.

They had arranged the date to be at six o'clock sharp. Lydia was an early eater, obviously. But now it was six thirty. Alastor was not yet hungry since he did not happen to eat dinner every day, but he was getting impatient.

"Rule number one," Nymphadora had said, "never be late or impatient."

"Shouldn't that be two rules?" Alastor had asked. Nymphadora had rolled her eyes and ignored him until he had begun pleading for more tips.

Six thirty turned into seven o'clock. Alastor could be out catching Sirius Black! The glory could be his since that Professor Snape and the Ministry had let them escape. What a shame.

By seven fifteen, Alastor was sleeping on the table, snoring softly. A curvaceous woman poked him awake and asked him if he wanted anything. He told her he wanted the time, and she notified him that it had been more than an hour since he had came in. He cursed himself for sleeping and forgetting constant vigilance, even if he wasn't growling that to everyone anymore.

"Rule number two," Nymphadora had whispered while she was cleaning up her mother's place with Alastor, "hey, did you know Sirius Black was my mother's favorite cousin? or family member for that matter. Ooh, I'd hate to know what the rest of her family was like… I was raised by only my parents, you see…"

Alastor had coughed expectantly.

"Rule number two, never interrupt, Mad-Eye."

Alastor rolled his eye. The other had been looking out of the back of his head anyways.

"Okay, just kidding, that's actually rule number four. Rule number two is that if she has not showed up in an hour, it's not your fault if you leave when she's been so late."

"Oh, so she can come late, but I can't? These rules are stupid," Alastor had grunted.

And Nymphadora had left him to scrub the toilet. They had only gone through two rules, plus that one about interrupting—Alastor couldn't remember the number of that one anymore—so other than that, he was clueless.

But he wasn't stupid enough to wait at the Three Broomsticks for a no-show.

-:-

A month later, at the next Singles Club party, Lydia was nowhere to be seen.

However, Brenna was. Perhaps she could prove useful.

"Brenna, Brenna, Brenna, what a, um, _pleasure!—_yeah, that's the right word—to see you!"

Brenna smiled widely with satisfaction, not caring about Alastor's stumbling over words nor noticing his sarcasm and fake ebullience.

"Alastor, dear! How exciting to see you again!" she winked with utmost enthusiasm.

"Yes, yes," Alastor muttered. "Have you seen Lydia Newton here?"

Brenna thought for a moment then answered cautiously, "What would she be doing here? She's not single, she's had Alex for a good twelve years!"

Ooh, so she had stood him up. Great. What nice news to tell Nymphadora.

Of course Alastor wouldn't know such a strange phrase like 'stood him up' if it wasn't for Nymphadora's gossip…

"Oh, I met her at the last party."

"Hah," Brenna said, "is she still letting people off? She really gets the men wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?"

Alastor was surprised, but not for that reason. In fact, there was tall brunette man who had been lurking around earlier right behind him, cracking his knuckles silently.

Perhaps he was a Muggle, otherwise a wand might work better.

Or perhaps he was Alex Newton.

Uh oh.

Alastor quickly dodged to his left—his right leg was the useless one, you see—as the man attempted to punch him. But he only managed to punch the thin air with such force that he toppled over to Brenna.

"Oh, hi, Alex! Didn't see you there!" Brenna exclaimed.

Alastor looked him over and growled, "Well, well, well, Alex Newton, I presume? Muggle, perhaps?"

"Damn dis," Alex grunted. "Didn' know wizards still had dem singles' parties 'round. Didn' think there were dis many a wizard to go flirting 'round wi' mah Lydia after Ah cracked a few o' dem skulls las' time."

"Oh dear," Brenna whispered nervously.

"Alex, eh? Pleasure. Dis here's uh magical eye, sir. Can see out o' da back o' mah neck, Ah can," said Alastor, imitating Alex's accent.

Then he promptly Apparated to Nymphadora's home.

And walked in on Nymphadora sitting with no other than Remus Lupin, watching her television. Remus was a half-blood like Nymphadora so he would probably know what a television was also.

They were watching a scary movie apparently as Nymphadora was shivering and cuddling into Remus.

Alastor promptly apologized and Apparated back to his own house. He would have to tell her later.

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**A/N: I waned to include Remus again, a bit more romantically this time, but I thought a candlelit dinner was a bit unlike him and Nymphadora. Plus, that would be getting them too far in. They only **_**really**_** start liking each other that way in OotP. Then again, this is pre-GoF, and we don't see much of Remus in GoF, right? So who knows? Reviews are nice. :D**


	4. Someone New

_**Constant Vigilance**_

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody decides to slack off on the constant vigilance just a teensy bit before Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts. He's actually going to try to live a life (!) Not much romance… just pathetic attempts at it with tips from Nymphadora.

**Ch 3 Summary: Tonks congratulates Alastor for landing a date with the redhead, Lydia, and shares some, er, extremely helpful tips with him. Lydia ends up not showing up at the Three Broomsticks for her date with Alastor. At the next Singles Club party, Brenna proves herself to be useful and gossips with Alastor about the _taken_ Lydia who stands dates up quite frequently. Lydia's husband, Alex, overhears this conversation and is about to fight Alastor when Alastor Apparates to Tonks's, just in the nick of time, but intrudes on her "date" with Remus...**

**Disclaimer: I should give up writing multi-chaptered stories; this is rather irritating. ME NO OWN DA HARRY POTTA SERIES.**

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**Someone New**

"Ooh, bad luck, Mad-Eye," Nymphadora said after hearing Alastor's account of the whole story about Lydia… without Remus present this time. "You'll do better next time, don't worry. You'll be breakin' a few o' dem hearts like Alex get crackin' dem skulls. Hm, sounds like a poorly-educated American to me."

Alastor nodded eagerly.

"Rule number three was to check if they're single, but that's hard to do these days, so we usually don't count it anymore."

"We?" Alastor inquired.

Nymphadora replied, "Yes, we. We teenagers. We just follow gossip, I guess."

"…I've been taking advice from _teenagers_?!"

"Well, teenagers tend to do the best in the dating department, eh, Mad-Eye? _We_ come up with the cliché pick-up phrases, _we_ tend to get asked out the most, _we_ go on dates so often… Wow, Mad-Eye, I really wish your eye could see into brains. That would really save me lotsa trouble."

Alastor had nothing to say to that except: "I give up."

Nymphadora gave quite a loud protest to that, but Alastor had made up his mind.

-:-

Not.

It was a fine Sunday afternoon, the day before Alastor would be going to Hogwarts to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. He figured this was the last day he could look for Lydia Newton in Diagon Alley, even if she had made up her apothecary. Then again, she had told him her real name, so why would she?

It'd be too easy to find her, clearly.

He walked along Diagon Alley, strolling into NEWTONS' POTION INGREDIENTS. This was it. Obviously.

He stepped inside, and all was rather dark. Dead creatures hung from the ceiling. Alastor would have shuddered if he hadn't dealt with more frightening events in his life. What was an Auror there for after all?

Not that Aurors were paid much anyway. Not enough to match all the sacrifices they've made.

"Excuse me, sir, are you looking for anything?" a familiar female voice asked from behind.

His eye swiveled excitedly, but he was only looking at a woman he had never seen before. Surely Lydia Newton couldn't be a Metamorphmagus? Maybe he had only been imagining her voice.

Alastor turned around to the woman. "Is there a Lydia Newton here?" he asked politely.

"No…" she answered.

Alastor grunted, "Liar."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, since the shop is Newtons' Potion Ingredients, doesn't a Newton own this?"

"Oh my gosh, you're Mad-Eye Moody!"

"…why yes I am…" Alastor growled impatiently. Forget rule number two. Or was it one? Damn Nymphadora.

"And, sir, this is New Tons of Potion Ingredients, not Newtons'. Sorry."

Sure enough, a sign over the counter read NEW TONS of POTION INGREDIENTS. Apparently Alastor had taken the small 'of' to be an apostrophe. How confusing. Like that Petsmart he had been at to rescue some mental wizard wandering around in a Muggle town with robes and wand; the store looked to be Pet Smart or Pet's Mart. Rather confusing, if you asked Alastor.

Alastor apologized profusely to the woman and turned to leave… and bumped into a blonde woman.

What was it with him and women?!

He bent down to pick up the woman's items from the floor and stood back up. He handed the things to her and looked up at a gorgeous face. Sure she looked a bit rushed and expectant that he pick up her things for her, but then again, Alastor had been the one to knock her things over.

Surely not a Veela?

"Sorry, ma'am," Alastor said to the pretty face. She had some sharp features, but it looked nice with her skinny blonde look. Not in a Brenna-like way though. She was absolutely stunning in her silver robes. She had long blonde hair down to her waist that was a mix of wavy and curly. She looked every inch the aristocrat, her eager green eyes completing the look. She just stared at Alastor.

So she wasn't in a hurry. Alastor reminded himself to ask Nymphadora for body language reading lessons.

"Alastor Moody, ma'am," he said, extending his hand for her to shake.

She nodded and waited slightly before she said, "Nara Malcolm," and shook Alastor's hand gently as if she was fragile enough to break.

* * *

**A/N: Anyone think they know who the new lady is? (:**


	5. Mistakes

_**Constant Vigilance**_

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody decides to slack off on the constant vigilance just a teensy bit before Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts. He's actually going to try to live a life (!) Not much romance… just pathetic attempts at it with tips from Nymphadora.

**Ch 4 Summary: Tonks tries to comfort Alastor, but he _claims _to have given up. He goes to Diagon Alley and thinks he has found Newtons' Potion Ingredients, presumably Lydia's apothecary, but it's only New Tons of Potion Ingredients. He does stumble upon a very alluring blonde by the name of Nara Malcolm though...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue, don't steal. Please? (:**

* * *

**Mistakes**

"Nice to meet you, Nara," Alastor mumbled, looking straight into her eyes. He felt as if his heart was melting. Is this what love felt like?

No wonder teenagers fell in love so fast. Maybe adults should listen to them more often. Nymphadora was right: teenagers _are_ the best lovers. They set the standards for everything! And now all Alastor had to do was live up to them.

As if.

Nara nodded and smiled up at him.

How could Alastor slyly ask if she was married?

"So, could I have the pleasure of buying you some tea? It's the least I could do."

He thought that would do the trick. If she agreed, she would definitely be single. Otherwise she wouldn't be going off eating with rude strangers, right?

"That would be lovely… Alastor," Nara said lightly. It sounded flirtatious enough to be comforting yet alluring, though not as creepy as Brenna's breathy voice had been.

Alastor grinned and offered his arm to her. She took it, and they set off to a teashop.

Along the way, some men were eyeing Nara strangely, but Alastor thought they were just jealous of how he could snag a beautiful stranger like her. He couldn't wait to see Nymphadora's face when he told her.

Once inside the Café of Circe—without Alastor tripping even once from anxiety—Nara sat down at a window table. Alastor joined her and ordered a cup of green tea while Nara ordered a cup of jasmine tea. He had only had tea once in his life and thought it safer to order something he already tried than to order jasmine also and end up spitting it all over the place in revulsion or something. Such things were bound to happen when Alastor was on a date.

If this could be called a date. It was close enough. He had asked out a woman, though he only knew her name. But it would be good enough to satisfy Nymphadora. Well, forget Nymphadora, he liked Nara too!

-:-

They had chatted for quite a bit. Alastor had even mentioned that he was going to teach at Hogwarts since she already seemed to know he was a famous ex-Auror. Now it was almost five o'clock, heading into a lovely Sunday evening. Alastor thought teaching at Hogwarts could wait if he could befriend Nara. She was clearly worth it.

After that, they Side-Along Apparated to Alastor's house, on account of Nara's request. Nara swung her head around, inspecting Alastor's neighborhood. He, of course, had been too lovestruck to notice that no one was supposed to know where he lived. His neighbors had been under the impression that some hermit lived there since he Apparated almost everywhere, and when he didn't, he used his Invisibility Cloaks.

Nara complimented Alastor's middle-class Muggle neighborhood and then bid him goodbye. Alastor told her that he could see her on Saturday evening in Hogsmeade's Madam Puddifoot's. Nara seemed to like tea more than butterbeer or firewhiskey, so that seemed like an appropriate date.

-:-

It was eleven o'clock, and Alastor still had not slept. He was still thinking about the enchanting Nara Malcolm and her golden locks and her perfect tall, slim body… and her cute smile… and her beautiful blue eyes…

He heard some rustling outside and was up on his feet within a second. He grabbed his wand and Invisibility Cloak, peered out the window with his head invisible and his wand at the ready.

Just then, there was a creak behind him—Alastor had specially chosen a house with slightly loose boards as a precaution against intruders—and immediately charmed his dustbins to ambush the dark shadow in his yard. He cast jinxes everywhere, now sure the shadow was lurking around, definitely a moving person. There was quite a bit of commotion, but he could modify his neighbors' memories if the Ministry could—or would—not.

He turned back around and—

"Stupefy!"

Alastor suddenly dropped to the floor.

Barty Crouch, Jr. quickly stopped the dustbins and opened the window. "Get out, Wormtail! He's down! Hurry!" Barty then cast the Imperius Curse on Alastor's body, and Alastor could not very well fight it for he was unconscious.

Someone stepped out of the darkness of the hallway into the room. "So, did you get him?"

"Yes," Barty answered. "Thanks for your help, Cissa. The Dark Lord shall be pleased, though you're not a real Death Eater yourself. Hopefully he will pardon Lucius for the diary incident."

A beaming Narcissa Malfoy stepped into the moonlight and smiled wickedly. "He fell right for me. He gave it away when he told me he was teaching at Hogwarts. Draco's fourth year, so that would be Potter's as well."

Just then, Peter Pettigrew stumbled into the bedroom, panting. "Huff, sorry, so many stairs, is he Stunned?"

"Well noticed, Wormtail," Barty answered.

"Um," Narcissa said uneasily, "we should get going now. The Aurors—both wizard and Muggle—will be here any moment."

"Oh, right. Here, Wormtail, grab his arm."

"Constant vigilance, Alastor…" Narcissa muttered to the unconscious body right before Barty and Pettigrew Apparated with it. Narcissa followed suit, returning to the Malfoy Manor with a crack.

_**FINITE INCANTATEM.**_

* * *

**A/N: I hope that wasn't too big of a twist; I had said this was pre-GoF, and we all know what happened then. And Nara Malcolm sounded similar to Narcissa Malfoy, right? Congrats to those who guessed right. Hope you enjoyed it! (:**


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